Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-01-06
FORTY YEARS AGO.
uardships of an Atlantic Voyage Before
the Days of Fast Steamers.
4 tho ,nI.,.i,l 1AE j, L Il

Hardships of an Atlantic Voyage Before
the Days of Fast Steamers.
At the period of which l speak, the
| sailing packets which run between Lon
don and New York, and between Liver
pool and that port, were ships of five to
six hundred tons burden. The state
rooms-as the little cabins ranged on
either side of the saloon were termed
were below the sea-level. They were in
| commodious, dark, and ill-ventilated.
| In fact, the only light they enjoyed was
| that furnished by small pieces of ground
glass inserted in the deck overhead,
| and from the fan-lights in the doors
opening to the saloon, and this was so
poor that the occupants of the state
| rooms could not even dress themselves
without making use of a lamp. The
sole ventilation of them was that afford
! ed by the removal of the saloon sky
! lights. which, of course, could only be
! done in fine weather. The consequence
was that the closeness of the atmOs-
| phere III the state-rooms was at all
times most unpleasant; while the smell
. of the bilGe-water was so offensive as to
VI tIistt I'll
ing from the motion OF the vessel. In
winter, on the other hand, the cold was
frequently severe. There was. it is
true. I; stove in the saloon, but the heat
from it scarcely made itself appreciably
felt in the the side cabins.
In other matters there was the same
! absence of provision for the comfort of
the passengers. The fresh water re-
quired for drinking and cooking pur-
| poses was carried il casks; and when
the ship had full cargo, many Of these
were placed on deck, with the result
that their contents were sometimes inn
pre@nated with salt water from the
waves shipped in heavy weather. At
all times the water was most unpalata-
BILE, it being muddy, and filled with
various impurities from the old worm
eaten barrels in which it was kept.
Not only was the water bad. but the
supply occasionally proved inadequate;
and when the voyage was an unusually
long one, the necessity would arise of
placing the passengers upon short al
lOwance.
There was always COW on board;
but there was no other milk to be had
than what she supplied, no way of pre-
serving it having then been discovered.
Canned fruit and vegetables were equal
ly unknown. There was commonly a
fair provision of mutton and pork. live
sheep and pigs being carried; but of
other fresh meat and of fish, the stock
was generally exhausted by the time
the vessel had been a few days at sea;
refrigerators at that period not having
been invented.
But the arrangements on board these
ships We're defective in much more inn
portant matters than in not providing
good table for the passengers. The
boats-even when they were seaworthy,
which frequently was not the case
were so few in number that, in the
event Of shipwreck, there was no posi-
bility of their holding more than third
of the souls on board The long-boat,
indeed, was practically useless in an
emergency, rs it was almost invariably
filled up with sheds for the accommo-
dation for the COW, sheep and pigs; and
it would have been several hours work
to clear the Ioas and launch her.
If the cal in passengers had good
cause to complain that neither their
safety nor their comfort was sufficient
" studied, the condition of the Storage
passengers was infinitely worse. Men,
women and children are huddled like
sheep in the quarters assigned them, no
separation of the sexes being attempt
ed. The berths, which ran on either
side of the vessel, were not inclosed,
and were without curtains. The wom-
en- We're compelled to dress and I'M
dress before the eyes of their male pas
sengers, and exposed to their course re-
marks and scurrilous jests.
The steerage passengers were re-
quired to both supply and cook their
own provisions. There was commonly
a fierce struggle for place at the gal
ley fire. in which the sick, and feeble
necessarily went to the wall; and some
times several days would pass without
any warm food being obtained by those
who were most in need of it. Again,
when there was storm, or even when
the ship experienced heavy weather,
the matches were closed, rendering the
atmosphere of the steerage almost
sitting. In fact, the condition and
treatment of this class of passengers
were simply abominable, and such as to
reflect deep discredit upon the Govern
ment for allowing so many years to
collapse ere any attempt was made to
deal with the evil.-Cham6ers' Journal.